Friday, October 17, 2014

Muy Chingon Profe Arturo Aldama to Write Foreword
So I posted a few weeks back about my book Reclaiming Poch@ Pop (see the Tumblr) being under contract--and this week--I got the amazing news that prolific writer and professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado will be writing the Foreword for my book. Aldama has written or edited numerous influential and important scholarly texts on decolonialism, pop culture and the many intersections among race, culture and indigeneity.

"Dr. Arturo J. Aldama, born in Mexico City and grew up in Sacramento California, serves as an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Ethnic Studies at CU Boulder and recently served as Director of CSERA (Center for Studies in Ethnicity and Race in the Americas). He received MA and PHD in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley in 1996. His publications include:

Comparative indigeneities of the Americas. Ed. Introduction (co-author) and a single author chapter in book, not a reprint on US nativism and criminalization of immigrants. University of Arizona Press, 2012. Inaugural book in Critical Indigenous Studies.

Friday, October 3, 2014

This evening Dr. Cornel West spoke at Santa Clara University as a part of the Ignatian Center's focus on justice in their series of events. I had the chance to attend his talk in addition to a meeting he had with some faculty prior where I asked Dr. West to sign a copy of his collaboration with Keith Gilyard Composition and Cornel West: Notes toward a Deep Democracy. I live-tweeted a lot of his talk, so I put together a Storify that captures some of the Socratic problem-posing taking place--all to get at messages of remembering to love, maintain integrity even in the face of imperialism, greed and value systems that privilege smarts and money rather than wisdom and compassion.

I'll be presenting alongside a couple mentors--one of whom will be retiring--so it'll be an occasion for intellectual community-building and celebration. More to come as I continue to draft, revise and practice these exciting presentations.